Drew Berrymore bought a gay club!!

Hilarious! Drew Berrymore bought a gay club in Hollywood. Just read an article on pinknews:

"During the last US Presidential election, Ms Barrymore vocalised her support for now President Barack Obama. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Drew Barrymore said that Obama’s “sensitivity” on the issue had won her over:

“When I heard him speak about a gay person never having to sit outside the hospital room with their loved one sick inside, I burst into tears because so many people I care about are homosexual and it was profound to have someone be sensitive to that,” she said."

Hungarian celebrities support Budapest Pride

This is what fame should be used for?! In an ideal world yes, but in reality... I don't think so... I don't think it should be a fundamental expectation, nor do I think that is a minimal effort that everyone should do. The word should means something is compulsory... well, it is not.

But, I welcome everyone who wants to raise her/his voice in this issue. So, I called lot of celebrities the week before last week (yes, can't wait my phone bill to arrive), I talked to at least 60 people within 3 days, told them what our idea was and asked if they wanted to participate. I explained the context -- basically that the police refused to grant permission for the march and we had to turn to the court. Thus, with supporting video messages from famous people (mostly hetero supporters) we can

• reach a lot of people
• engage a lot of people to come to the march
• raise awareness of the legal discrimination and inequality
• start changing the society

I do think that we shall thank all who participated in this video project. Because it means a lot. It means a lot that famous people from the cultural sector came, told their opinion, showed and ensured their support and solidarity.

From this time on, we are going to post a video each day until the festival (july 1-8), keep following :) 

The first one is with Szabó Győző -- this is an exceptional video, because instead of a "usual" supporting message, we recorded the visual representation of our first phone call (which was actually funny). He misunderstood the event, thought it was Budapest Ride, a march with motorcycles and bikes, not Budapest Pride the march for LGBTQ people. He did not really understand why it was almost banned. It was also unclear for him why I said no, you can not come to the march by motorcycle. Finally it turned out that the whole chat was based on a huge misapprehension :)

IDAHO -- stand up against homophobia and transphobia!

Yepp, 17 of May is the IDAHO -- nah, not that one, it's a different one. Symbolic date? Exactly. May 17 was chosen as the day of the event because homosexuality was removed from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization on May 17, 1990. Since then, there are several examples of the diversity of approaches and actions that organisations engage in. One thing is common: those who participate think that it is an opportunity to raise your voice, send a message and fight for human rights -- a never-ending struggle? Arising from prejudice and ignorance, homophobia and transphobia can affect LGBTQ people’s lives in many ways. Every day, members of the LGBTQ community face disapproving comments, verbal attacks, hate speech, and physical violence, simply because their gender identity and/or sexual orientation is not what is accepted by the mainstream society. What's more in case of Hungary -- declarations of homophobia and transphobia can be heard even in the Parliament. And at this rate, Budapest Police’s practice of banning the pride march every year will soon become a Hungarian national tradition... nice.

Let's see how we celebrated IDAHO in Budapest! Organized by a couple of NGOs (including Budapest Pride, Amnesty International Hungary, Háttér Support Society for LGBT People, Labrisz Lesbian Association, the Hungarian LGBT Alliance and TransVanilla Transgender Association) the event took place at Deák tér from 4 pm and there were numerous programs. You can read the official press realease partly written by me (link here), you know I am one of the organizers of the Budapest Pride. What you could choose: support the Budapest Pride March with a video message, make sidewalk art with us, sign the Baltic Pride petition of the Amnesty International or join a discussion about transphobia held in Café Vis Major. The key is to say NO somehow.

I could not attend the discussion, but I spent two hours at Deák tér by interviewing strangers what they think about the pride march in general, if they plan to attend this year's etc. We recorded a number of speakers for this video of support. Besides one extreme homophobe guy, all the answers were relevant and instructive ...and I have to tell you my favorite one: I asked a middle-aged women who took her kids why she thought it was important to attend the event -- and what she replied was soooo encouraging -- she said that she wanted her children to be raised in a society in which same-sex couples were just as usual as hetero ones. Lovely!

St. Petersburg's propaganda law in reality

I have already written a couple of posts about what is going on in St. Petersburg and what this propaganda law is about. Well, it did come into force and now we have the first guy (a hardcore lgbtq campaigner) to be convicted of ‘gay propaganda’. 

According to the report of the AP, Nikolai Alekseev was said to have been fined 5,000 roubles, just over £100, by a court in Russia’s second city for the promotion of homosexuality among minors... So, what did he do? As the news and the article by PinkNews (link here) highlight, Alekseev had held up a sign reading “Homosexuality is not a perversion” outside the Smolny Institute in April in public view. Shame on him, nah?! 

On the Spot in Egypt - Amnesty International Women's Group

As you may know, I am one of the founders of the Women's Group at the Amnesty International Hungary. We already arranged and participated in some events dealing with human rights issues, especially about women's rights. (for example the cookie action on women's day -- if you don't remember, you can read back, link here). So, while Amnesty is famous for lobbying, we regularly organize events which obviously have awareness raising campaigns, but we also want to "entertain". Ok, this is not the expression I was looking for, but the aim is to show an aspect of a certain country, territory or a specific case. We want to involve, invite, inform etc.

Last Wednesday we organized an event dealing with Egypt. The title "Denial and Repression" refers to the actual situation of women. The event itself was organized at Fogasház (oh yeah, I'm in love with ruin bars so it is not that surprising that I wanted to have it there). Program: film screening with a talk afterwards.

So, Egypt. On the Spot. What's this? It is is a documentary run by two young Hungarian people in her twenties, Cseke Eszter and S. Takács Andris. We invited Eszter to tell about her personal experience and to give us a broader picture of what the life is like there. The Egyptian episode was shot a year ago when a series of civil demonstrations took place against the Mubarak regime -- millions of protesters from various social, economic or even religious background demanded the overthrow of the regime... but since then, the life of an everyday men has not changed much. 

The audience was larger than we expected (at least larger than I expected...), approximately 60-70 people attended and they were pretty much curious, asked a lot of questions, so it was a nice surprise (for me). And of course, who does not like watching a movie and talking about human rights issues while drinking beer at a ruin bar? :)

PFLAG in short

In case if you don't exactly know the abbreviation PFLAG: parents and friends of gay & lesbian. (Yepp, it lacks a couple of letters T, B, Q, whatever... but only in its name, to tell their defense.) It is a community with a couple hundred thousand members. Actually, it is not only a community but a non-profit organization. 

What do they do? As you may probably see in the picture, they celebrate the diversity since they envisioned a society in which dignity, civil and legal equality are all fundamental factors -- a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Celebrate, support, whatnot in order to create a safe world (yepp, safe!) in which young people can grow up and be educated with freedom from any form of discrimination, fear of violence.

Not surprisingly, PFLAG is quite popular in the US, whereas it is a relatively "new" thing in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe. However, the goal is (of course) to reach everyone in the world so that a society - that is first of all healthy, and second of all respectful towards human diversity - can really be formed.

Budapest Pride March is ON!!!

Pride march is on -- surprisingly... or NOT. Last Friday, the court of Budapest has reportedly overruled the police’s decision not to grant a license for this year's pride march. Hurrah, the right to assembly (as a fundamental right) is still acknowledged -- the court said and ensured that the police had no legal grounds on which to deny the application. I still can not believe that we (as organizers) had to undergo exactly the same procedure as last year (as the police tried to block the march in 2011 as well...)

What can I say? Nice try? No... it is such a shame that such things can happen (and does happen) in this country. The police argued that it would be impossible to maintain the free flow of traffic, however we all know that it is only about a political decision. Discrimination? Exactly. Are we going to take further actions? YES!! With the help of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, we are going to take further legal actions against the police department, you can read our press release about this (link here).

I do not think that this is a victory of the lgbtq community since it is a fundamental human right. A fundamental right that has to be acknowledged all the time. I want to live in a country in which a person or group is not treated unfavorably on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity... as you already know, I am "just" an anxious hetero citizen, but I have to admit that it is so hard to be gay in Hungary. (sorry for writing gay, I hate that expression...) You can say that I am an outsider, but I disagree. Not because I'm one of the organizers but because the violation of basic rights (to be free from discrimination) is what affects everyone... as an activist, I fight for equal treatment which definitely should be the basis of the society. This is what I believe in, this is the basic principle of my life -- I don't know if I can change the world but at least I can try.